Gliding shelf



April 29, 1969 K. K. KESLING 3,441,331

GLIDING SHELF Filed Oct. 23, 1967 Kez'i): 1C Xes i12 BY Y {Mam

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,441,331 GLIDING SHELF Dayton, Ohio, assignor to General Keith K. Kesling,

a corporation of Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., Delaware Filed Oct. 23, 1967, Ser. No. 677,332 Int. Cl. A47b 88/00; F16e 35/00, 39/00 US. Cl. 312341 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to glideways employing magnetic repulsion for movement substantially without friction.

Glideways provided with rollers and other types of slidable supports have been used for lateral movement of shelves and drawers. These have variable amounts of friction. Some have very high starting friction which may cause the spilling of liquids from their containers. Therefore, with many of these shelves it is undesirable to place open containers containing liquids thereon if they are to be moved.

It is an object of this invention to provide a laterally movable shelf or other laterally movable device with suitable glide members and glideways in which the friction is substantially eliminated by magnetic repulsion supports.

It is another object of this invention to provide magnetic repulsion glides and glideways which are simple, inexpensive and keep the glide members in proper alignment on the glideways at all times.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein a preferred embodiment of the present invention is clearly shown.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator cabinet with the food compartment door open illustrating a symmetrical laterally movable shelf embodying one form of my invention;

FIGURE 2 is a fore and aft vertical sectional view through the shelf looking toward the one glide and glideway; and

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2.

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGURE 1, there is shown a refrigerator cabinet 20 with a door 21 open showing a food compartment 22 provided with a laterally movable shelf 24. As indicated in FIGURES 2 and 3, the opposite sides of the symmetrical laterally movable shelf 24 have fastened thereto by the screws 26 the glide members 28 which are shorter than the front to rear measurements of the shelf 24. The glide members 28 are positioned vertically and have their upper and lower edges 30 and 32 beveled forming a protruding V-shape to provide an included angle of slightly less than 90. The outer portions of each of the beveled Patented Apr. 29, 1969 ice surfaces are notched to receive the thin rectangular magnetic strips 34, 36, 38 and 40 which preferably are bonded in place by a suitable adhesive such as a rubber to metal adhesive. These magnetic strips may take various forms. As one example, these strips may be made of magnetic iron powder which is bonded together by elastomeric material such as one of the forms of synthetic rubber.

Each glideway 42 includes a plate 44 fastened by the screws 46 to the side walls 48 of the compartment 22. Fastened by the screws 49 to this plate 44 are the upper and lower rails 50 and 52. The lower face 54 of each of the upper rails 50 is provided with a recessed V-shaped bevel which is complementary to the projecting V-shaped bevel forming the upper face 30 of the glide member 28-. The lower rails 52 likewise are provided on their upper faces with V-shaped bevels 56 which are complementary to the V-shaped bevels 32 of the glide member 28. The upper rails 50 have their beveled surfaces notched at their outer edges to receive the magnetic strips 58 and 60. These strips preferably are of the same magnetic material as the strips 34 and 36 and are similarly fastened in place by a suitable adhesive. These strips are preferably magnetized so that all of the north poles are on the lower edges of the strips while all of the south poles are on the upper edges of the strips.

The lower rails 52 similarly have the upper edges of their V-shaped surfaces notched to receive the magnetic strips 62 and 64 which preferably are of the same magnetic material as the magnetic strips 38 and 40'. These magnetic strips 62 and 64 also are held in place by a suitable adhesive. These strips are preferably all provided with the same pole arangement, such as by making the upper edges of all of the magnetic strips north poles and the lower edges of all of the magnetic strips south poles. These magnetic strips should be magnetized sufficiently to provide a magnetic repulsion between the strips on the glide member 28 and the magnetic strips on the upper and lower rails 50 and 52 sufficiently powerful to cause a strong enough repulsion to support the shelf 24 with a maximum load thereon without actual contact between the glide member 28 and the rails 50 and 52. This type of support will provide virtually frictionless movement Without any of the parts having moving or starting friction so that the shelf 24 may be moved substantially without effort. If open containers containing liquids are placed on this shelf, the shelf can be moved slowly enough at all times so that the liquid will not spill.

Magnetic strips such as are made in large quantities for magnetic door seals are satisfactory. The arrangement is simple and easy to manufacture. The magnetic strips are preferably bonded in place by suitable rubber-to-metal adhesives. However, they may be fastened by fastening devices of any type desired.

While the embodiment of the invention as herein disclosed constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted.

I claim:

1. In combination, a support, a glideway mounted upon said support, a laterally movable shelf provided with a glide member guided by said glideway, a first magnetic means supported by said glideway and extending longitudinally thereon, a second magnetic means extending longitudinally along said glide member adjacent said first magnetic means, said first and second magnetic means being provided with substantially similar poles for supporting said glide member upon said glideway by magnetic repulsion for ease of move-ment of said shelf.

2. A combination as defined in claim 1 in which the first magnetic means comprises two spaced substantially parallel magnetic strips and the second magnetic means fcomprises two spaced substantially parallel magnetic 3 strips located between and substantially aligned with the two strips of the first magnetic means.

3'. A combination as defined in claim 1 in which the first magnetic means comprises two spaced substantially parallel pairs of magnetic strips and the second magnetic 5 means comprises two spaced substantially parallel pairs of magnetic strips loc ted between and substantially aligned with the first two pairs of magnetic strips, each pair of strips having exposed surfaces in the transverse direction at opposite angles the adjacent exposed surfaces of the strips of the first and second magnetic means being substantially adjacent and substantially aligned and substantially parallel.

4. In combination, a glideway, a glide member located in said glideway, wherein the improvement comprises a 1 the surfaces adjacent the magnetic strips of said first and second magnetic means being substantially aligned and substantially parallel.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,675,277 4/1954 McClellan 312-350 2,844,430 7/1958 Bogar 30'83.6 3,107,948 10/1963 Lovegrove 308-10 3,125,964 3/1964 Silverman 308l0 X 3,195,022 7/1965 Staver. 3,233,950 2/1966 Baerman 30810 JAMES T. MCCALL, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 

